Most of you FUKRs know that here at The Krich Report, we are fans of Politifact. Our work and their work intersect nicely. Much like Politifact, we are all about calling out lies and B.S. regardless of which side of the aisle it comes from. Unlike Politifact, we haven’t won a Pulitzer Prize. Yet.
Sure, we like to poke fun at them when they screw up their Lie of the Year, but we tease because we love.
I occasionally hear a complaint from the conservative right that Politifact is biased. Exhibit A in that argument is the fact that in their 12 years of choosing a lie of the year, ten of those times they bestowed the honor on Republicans. My response to that complaint: maybe stop lying so much?
Oh, relax Republicans. I’m just messing with you.
The fact is, Politifact calls out liberal lies all the time. Hillary Clinton received 84 ratings of ‘false,’ ‘mostly false,’ or ‘pants on fire.’ Nancy Pelosi has received ratings on the false side of the spectrum 47% of the time she has been fact-checked by Politifact. Barack Obama has 151 total false ratings, including nine ‘pants on fire.’
Bottom line, both sides lie.
With the start of a new presidential administration, I thought it would be fun to take a look at Joe Biden’s Politifact scorecard.
Astute FUKRs of a more conservative bent were quick to decry that he was already lying just 10 minutes into his inaugural address last Wednesday, when he vowed that “I will be a president for all Americans.” Three hours later he proceeded to issue 17 executive orders, nine of which reversed Trump policies and were designed to wipe out significant portions of the previous administration’s legacy that presumably were popular with 46% of the country.
If you’re a liberal and you want to make the argument that there’s no inconsistency between Biden’s call for unity and his use of the presidential pen to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and abolish the 1776 Commission, that’s fine. But the Krich Rule will require you to remember that and be equally forgiving in four years when President Cruz, or President Pompeo, or President Trump, Jr. wipes out your favorite portions of Biden’s legacy while promising to represent all Americans.
Given that Biden has held elected office for, let’s see, 137 years, he’s got a lengthy scorecard with Politifact. They’ve fact-checked him 178 times.
Now, let’s play a game. Go ahead and guess what percentage of those fact checks landed somewhere on the “true” side of the chart (True, Mostly True, Half True), and what percentage were on the “false” side (Mostly False, False, Pants on Fire). Answer at the bottom.
Here’s our Top 10 list of Biden’s best lies:
10. I can send every qualified person to a 4-year college for $150 billon.
9. Senate Republicans’ move to confirm Amy Coney Barrett was unconstitutional.
8. There’s an identifiable Somali community in Delaware.
7. McDonalds makes you sign a non-compete contract.
6. I was arrested in South Africa trying to see Nelson Mandela.
5. No presidents elected before Donald Trump were racist.
4. Individuals weren’t allowed to own cannons during the Revolutionary War.
3. When President Trump walked across Lafayette Park to a church, he held the Bible upside down.
2. When one person sneezes, it goes all the way through the aircraft.
1. The Obama Administration didn’t lock people in cages.
And here’s Biden’s full scorecard on Politifact.
Answer to the trivia question above: 60% of Biden fact-checks have been somewhere on the true side; 40% have been on the false side.
By comparison, Donald Trump was 73% on the false side out of 925 checks, with a whopping 161 Pants on Fire.
Discussion question for the Comments Section:
Is Politifact fair and balanced, or do you consider them to be biased? Discuss!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-fact-checker-tracked-trump-claims/2021/01/23/ad04b69a-5c1d-11eb-a976-bad6431e03e2_story.html?utm_campaign=wp_todays_headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_headlines
Matthew:
While an interesting game, certain to suck much of the few remaining breaths I have on the planet, I would offer it matters less what Presidents and other elected say, but rather how it is amplified in the media.
The headline above from today's Washington Post, Trump lied 30, 500 times times.
Or, also from today's Washington Post
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-biden-administration-must-go-into-overdrive-to-reclaim-our-courts/2021/01/23/c1c589a6-5cc2-11eb-b8bd-ee36b1cd18bf_story.html?utm_campaign=wp_todays_headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_headlines)
Trump "...filled the courts with extremist judges, opposed to civil rights..."
As noted above,, most of us do not have the time (I commend your efforts to stay abreast and actually right a meaningful daily column) and so must look at the picture these narrow brush strokes are painting.
Having no direct link to God's lips, I predict this is the start of the narrative that Trump was SO bad, So evil and did So much harm, we must race to correct these Satanic acts before the take hold in society, by whatever means necessary...if only we could think of a way...there must be something, Wait, let's pack the courts.
The end justifies the means because by God we have to save American
Yep, if we have to burn it down to save it, we will.